[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10740]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   CHRISTIAN MEN'S FREEDOM FORUM 2000

  (Mr. CLYBURN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, on July 4, 2000, I will join the gentleman 
from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Hastings), the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones), the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Brown) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) 
at the Firstar Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. As members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, we join in support of the goals and 
objectives of the Christian Men's Freedom Forum 2000, which will 
convene on the eve of the African Methodist Episcopal Church's 
Quadrennial.
  We will interact with men and women from across the United States who 
appreciate and recognize the positive effect an open and honest 
exchange of ideas can bring to the body politic in this great Nation. 
It is the goal of the Christian Men's Freedom Forum'S National Chair, 
Bishop Vincent R. Anderson, whose keen vision set in motion this 
extraordinary challenge to acknowledge our ideological differences 
while embracing our core common ideals. As we prepare to celebrate 
Independence Day, all Americans should seek to embrace and replicate 
this initiative.
  Bishop Anderson is to be congratulated for this tremendous 
undertaking. This nonpartisan, nondenominational forum is the kind of 
collective effort that has, in the past, and could today, help to close 
the gap between those who have strong voices and those who feel they 
have no voices at all.
  Mr. Speaker, let me close with the hope that on Independence Day we 
will find it within ourselves to not only commemorate our Nation's 
founding, but also to celebrate such constructive undertakings.

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